Trump mulls possible Cabinet picks

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Though Donald Trump has not said whether he will run for the Reform Party's presidential nomination, the wealthy real-estate magnate already is thinking about who might fill top positions in a Trump Administration.

Speaking Sunday on CNN's "Late Edition," Trump said that he would consider selecting Jack Welch, the CEO of General Electric, as his running mate.

"He's probably the greatest corporate leader in history," Trump said. "He is a great man, a great guy. Somebody like that would be absolutely incredible."

Several weeks ago, Trump suggested talk-show host Oprah Winfrey would make a good candidate. Though she said publicly that she would not be interested, Trump suggested he might persuade her to reconsider. "Maybe even Oprah would do it. Who knows?" he said.

A Trump cabinet could include Rep. Charles Rangel (D-New York) as head of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. "I think Charlie Rangel is a terrific guy ... I think he'd be terrific at HUD," Trump said.

As secretary of state, "Colin Powell, perhaps."

And to head the Treasury Department, once again, "I'd love to see Jack Welch."

Trump said he was considering "four or five candidates I think would be absolutely outstanding" for the job of secretary of defense. Asked whether Arizona Sen. John McCain, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, was among them, Trump said he "might be a very, very interesting candidate."

About other political figures, Trump offered his opinions freely. In the U.S. Senate race in New York, Trump said he would back New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani over Hillary Clinton "for one very simple reason: he's been the best mayor in the history of the city of New York."

Nevertheless, he said, "I think, frankly, if she ran from another state, I'd support her."

Trump said he knows the first lady. "She stays in Trump Tower when she's in New York. Not because of me, but because of somebody else who has an apartment in Trump Tower. At least she has good taste."

About Vice President Al Gore, Trump said: "I always said he was very, very underrated."

But Trump was not complimentary about Gore's lone rival for the Democratic nomination, former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley. "He was a terrible senator. Did a terrible job ... He's almost Marxist in his leanings."

Trump warned that North Korea "is developing missiles like nobody's ever seen. We better do something rather quickly with them -- hopefully through negotiation."

If negotiations didn't not work, Trump said more "drastic" action might be necessary.

"You'll have to take rather drastic actions, because if you don't take them now, you're going to be in awfully big trouble in five years from now when they have more missiles than we do," he said.

Trump said he would lower the tax rate for the middle-class by imposing a 14.25 percent, one-time tax on people with a net worth of $10 million or more. "You'd be lowering the hell out of the tax rate," he said.

Trump said he has received positive feedback from people in that income-tax bracket because he would eliminate the inheritance tax.

About his prospects for success as a politician, he said, "I think I'm a very honest guy, and in fact, maybe too honest to be a politician."